The game of conkers has traditionally been played using the fruit of the horse chestnut tree. Two players would each thread the nut from a horse chestnut tree (conker) onto a length of string. Both players would each take turns in striking their opponents conker until one of the conkers was broken from its string. The player with the conker left intact at the end of the game was declared the winner.
On disadvantage with using nuts from the chestnut tree was that the nuts are no always readily available. Also, the game requires one of the nuts to be cracked or broken and thus the nuts were not reusable. Another disadvantage with the use of nuts is the difficulty with quarantine restrictions in many countries with respect to passage of fruit and nut produce.